Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Mice, Mice, Mice

About two weeks ago, I saw a mouse in the house. Joe and Noah tried to trap it, but that didn't work, so Joe put out some poison. The poison is supposed to make them very thirsty, so they go outside to find water and die. At least that is what the box said. However, I think that the poison just made them fertile because now we are infested with baby mice.
This whole thing started Sunday night. Everyone had gone to bed except me, I was up trying to get Noah's schoolwork ready for the first day of school. When I decided to get ready for bed, around 11:00, I saw a mouse in my bathtub! Somehow, I refrained from screaming and frantically ran to wake Joe up. I know he must have thought the house was on fire or something because I said "hurry, get up, hurry, please help!" He finally woke up enough to understand what was going on and said that he would take care of it. He cut open a milk jug to catch the mouse in (what he was going to do with it once he caught it I do not know), and tried to scoop it up out of my bathtub. When the mouse saw the jug coming, he ran down the drain! At this point, Joe places the plug over the drain hole and fills the tub with water. After the tub was filled with water, he pulled the plug and no more mouse. This satisfied me just until we got back into bed and I had visions of that mouse climbing back up out of the drain, soaking wet and ready for revenge. In order for us both to get some sleep, my wonderful husband got up and put the drain plug back in for me. If it ended there I would be happy, but unfortunately the saga continued into the next day.
Monday afternoon, the boys and I had to run some errands. When we returned Noah went into my bathroom and came out saying that there was a mouse in the tub. I had told him about the episode the night before and figured that he was making things up. When he insisted that there really was a mouse in my tub, I checked it out and sure enough, a new mouse was in my tub with the drain hole still plugged. I called Joe and he said he would take care of it when he came home, so we left the mouse there, with Noah checking on him periodically throughout the rest of the evening. When Joe did get home he faced and even bigger dilemma, how was he going to appease me (I wanted the mouse DEAD) and Noah (who wanted to let the mouse live in a shoebox in his room). Joe finally caught the mouse (in the same milk jug he had tried to use unsuccessfully the night before) and he and Noah let in go out in the woods. I say once again, if it ended there I would be happy, but you know my life and you know that it doesn't end there.
That very same night I was again up later than everyone else. As I went to prepare for bed, what did I see in my bathtub? Yep, another mouse, and no I am not kidding, which is what Joe thought I was doing when I once again woke him up for the second night in a row to come get the mouse out of my bathtub. At this point, I was sort of getting used to seeing them in the tub and I knew that they could not get out once they were in there, so I proceeded to perform my nightly rituals while Joe was chasing the mouse around the tub with the milk jug. This is when the night goes horribly wrong. As I am doing my thing, I see another mouse come running out of the corner. I can not stop the screams this time as mouse #2 runs around and around in circles and then dashes into the pair of Joe's dirty jeans that are on the floor. I am sitting there, not able to run, holding my feet as far off the ground as possible, praying that mice can't climb porcelain, and screaming to Joe, "he's in your pants, he's in your pants, the mouse ran in your pants." Joe, who is still leaning over the tub trying to catch mouse #1 does not see mouse #2 and assumes that I am screaming about mouse #1 and that the mouse is in the pants that he is currently wearing. As he begins shaking his pajamas, trying to get mouse#1 out, I realize what he is thinking and scream again that it is a different mouse and he is in the pants on the floor. Joe leaves mouse #1, and heads to the dirty clothes to flush out mouse #2. Just as Joe reaches for the pants, mouse #2 takes off and runs again, this time into my closet. Joe goes back to mouse #1 and decides that it is best just to pull the plug on the drain and do away with this mouse like he did with the mouse the previous night. I try to regain my composure and perch myself in the middle of our king size bed, convinced that mice can't get up there. (Please, no one take away the last bit of sanity I have by telling me that I am wrong.) I wait and wait for Joe to come to bed, but it seems like it is taking a long time. Then I hear the plunger. This can not be good. I guess mice are not meant to go down bathtub drains since this one stopped up the drain. Joe worked on it for a while longer and then just left it for this morning. He got up early and fixed it while I was asleep. I have such a good husband.
Anyway, with all that said, it is still not over. Mouse #2 which is really mouse #4 is still loose in my house and there are probably more than that. So people, I need help. Any ideas on how to get rid of them? The poison obviously does not work and they are too tiny to trip a mouse trap. I just can't stomach the thought of those glue traps, but I really can't stomach the thought of living with mice either. Please help, any advice would be great.

5 comments:

grammyjoan said...

I'm afraid if you don't agree to the glue traps, your family of five will quickly become a family of 50! Good luck tonight in dealing with your growing "family".

butterbean_girl said...

Some days I would not have anything to laugh about if it weren't for your stories. They are too funny. I have to agree with Grammy Joan about the glue traps.

Terry said...

Denise,
All I could think about was "Home Alone" with a mouse in the man's pants. I know they are small, but I don't want them in my house either. Probably the mouse that Joe and Noah turned loose in the woods, went and told the others about the nice house he found--that nice man and little boy even gave him a ride back to his old house so he could tell the rest of the family to pack up and move to the "Big House." Thanks for sharing with us. We'll pray for a mouse brigade. I love you.
Love,
Aunt Terry

Melissa said...

You certainly still have quite a lively life. :-) One word--Orkin. :-)

Holly and Tj said...

My suggestion is that you set up a motion sensor video camera. This won't do anything to stop the mice but I would LOVE to see y'all trying to catch the things!